We made sure to take advantage of the sunshine yesterday! To start the day, Ms. Paige showed us her friend, Buddy the raccoon! He lives inside the Nature Center and holds a box of Cracker Jacks, which we decided is people food, not raccoon food. We learned that baby raccoons (kits) like to play, just like us! Outside, we explored mammals even further by playing a skull guessing game and matching the skulls to the animals’ fur. We identified the beaver skull immediately because they have long orange teeth, but its fur was tricky to point out. Beavers have long hair as an outer layer to help waterproof them and short, fuzzy fur underneath to keep them warm when underwater. We learned that coyotes are related to dogs and have a long snout and that bobcats have a short snout and are related to cats. Next, we hiked down the Fox Den Trail to find wildflowers. The New England asters and goldenrod are in bloom along the Boardman River and look so pretty! We found many different colors of asters–pinks, purples, and even white. We also found snake and horsetail grasses growing around the boardwalk before heading back up to the pavilion to end the morning.